Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Infrastructure week. at last.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Bark louder, little dog.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

In my day, never was longer.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Tuesday Evening Open Thread: Doing the Work

Tuesday Evening Open Thread: Doing the Work

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======
I’m looking forward to reading what Adam has to say about Marina Ovsyannikova tonight…


ETA:

Reader Interactions

166Comments

  3. 3.

    jeffreyw

    PA has the second highest population of Ukrainians of any U.S. state.My message to Ukrainians fleeing their country: You are welcome here.I’m calling on the legislature to authorize $2 million to support the creation of the New Neighbors Fund to support resettlement.— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) March 15, 2022

  4. 4.

    Betty

    @Suzanne: I see the usual suspects are commenting on his announcement demanding a break in the gas tax. It’s always about them and a chance to complain about the Governor.

  6. 6.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Suzanne: Click the dots at the upper right of a tweet. Choose “embed tweet.” Then it will ask you to click copy code. Do that. Once you get back to BJ, make sure you’re in text mode at the upper right of the comment box. Then paste.

  9. 9.

    Roger Moore

    @Betty:

    I see the usual suspects are commenting on his announcement demanding a break in the gas tax.

    I see the whataboutists are also suggesting we shouldn’t do anything about Ukrainian refugees until we’ve fixed homelessness.  I’ll believe people like that when they talk about homelessness not in the context of an excuse to do nothing about some other problem.

  10. 10.

    Mart

    Concerned at the lack of any coverage of the arrest of Brittney Griner in Russia – Olympic gold medalist and WNBA all-star. I fear for her, a married openly gay woman. Think the USA needs to start making a stink. Maybe ship all the Russian NHL players back until she is released. That would get a lot of rich white folks attention

    ETA – Imagine the outrage if a prominent male straight athlete was busted at the start of Russia’s war with some pot.

  11. 11.

    WaterGirl

    I am watching Jen Psaki’s press briefing from today.  Someone just asked how she and Biden and others feel about being on the Russia sanctions list.

    She said that President Biden is Joseph Biden, Jr. so she thinks they actually sanctioned Joe Biden’s dad!  hahaha

  12. 12.

    Freemark

    @Suzanne: He lives in my hometown. we even have the same mechanic. So glad he is our governor. The amount of suck Pennsylvania would be if Wagner had won gives me shudders. I could see us being Northern Florida.

  13. 13.

    Baud

    @Mart:

    Think the USA needs to start making a stink. Maybe ship all the Russian NHL players back until she is released. That would get a lot of rich white folks attention.

     
    Why would Putin respond to that given everything else? She’s probably better off if the Biden people can work back channels.

  14. 14.

    Alison Rose ???

    @Betty: Every single damn Instagram post and tweet from Gov Newsom has a hundred frothing dipshits screaming about the gas tax, too. It’ll probably increase now that the school mask mandate is gone and the ones who were screeching UNMASK OUR KIDS!!!!!! will have to find a new thing to bitch about.

  15. 15.

    raven

    @Alison Rose ???: I’m going to try this one more time and then assume you have me pied.

     

    I’ve been trying to catch you but we are in different orbits. I apologize for the flip comment that you should “enlist” and I hope I never said you should shut the fuck up but, if I did, I apologize for that as well. I struggle with sending people to war but that’s a me problem. sorry

  19. 19.

    Gin & Tonic

    Ovsiannikova was perfectly happy to take a salary spinning government propaganda for 8 years, now suddenly she finds a cause? And I’m the Queen of England.

  21. 21.

    PJ

    @Gin & Tonic: War, particularly if it involves people close to you, is one of those things that can change people’s minds.  On the other hand, it could be some kind of ploy, but what would be the point?

  22. 22.

    E.

    Is this an okay place for me to brag about the Ukraine/World Central Kitchen fundraiser I held at my bakery? We raised over $3,500 in a day! Not bad for a town of 700 people. We made pagac, a Ukrainian stuffed flatbread, and sold it by the slice, pay whatever you want. I am so proud of my customers in this racist little town!

  25. 25.

    Jay

    @Gin & Tonic:

    lots of people take a “jerb”, more so when it’s a good paying “jerb” in a crappy economy, who then have a “come to Jesus moment” when push comes to shove.

    MBA’s, BailBonds, Repo persons, CEO’s, Bill Barr,……

    sadly, many have their “Come to Jesus” moment after they have retired, cashed out their stock options, or want to sell an insider book.

  30. 30.

    Gin & Tonic

    @oldgold: People would rather talk about her than about Russians killing babies. If Anne Laurie didn’t bring it up, I wouldn’t have. But it was a stunt for Western consumption, and you bought it hook, line, and sinker.

  32. 32.

    Elizabelle

    @Baud:  Hey there.  Yes.  It’s 12:19 am local time Germany.  Which does daylight savings time next weekend.

    A tad restless.

  33. 33.

    Alison Rose ???

    @raven: I def do not have you pied and would not do so! I’m sorry if I’ve missed other comments–I have a tendency to comment and then forget to come back to a post for like 6 hours and there’s 200 more comments and I’m like “nah”. I didn’t mean to ignore you and apologize if it came across that way. Thank you for your words, and I am also sorry because I know some of my comments on Adam’s posts have been perhaps a little…bellicose. I try to rein myself in but it is really tough in this case. I appreciate what you’ve said and absolutely do not hold the comment against you at all <3

  35. 35.

    Elizabelle

    @E.:   Well done!  And now you really can’t tell us where your bakery is located, since you just called its town racist … ;-)

  40. 40.

    Martin

    @Gin & Tonic: Yeah, that’s why there’s not a lot of sympathy for her. She helped write the long history of the justification for the invasion of Ukraine and now is suddenly distraught that there was an invasion of Ukraine. I mean, good on her for her rehabilitation, but it’s more than a bit late to matter.

  44. 44.

    Splitting Image

    @Alison Rose ???:

    Every single damn Instagram post and tweet from Gov Newsom has a hundred frothing dipshits screaming about the gas tax, too. It’ll probably increase now that the school mask mandate is gone and the ones who were screeching UNMASK OUR KIDS!!!!!! will have to find a new thing to bitch about.

    I can vouch for this. Two of my co-workers were supporting the “Freedom Convoy” at one of our Teams meetings a few weeks back, even to the point of hoping they succeeded in throwing down the government. I had to hold my tongue.

    Last week the conversation was about how COVID restrictions are being lifted and “people can finally go out”, but gas prices are too high to go anywhere. How they must be suffering.

    Oh, and today I just found out my company has created a Facebook page and is encouraging everyone to join. *headdesk

  45. 45.

    Captain C

    @germy: In those pics he looks like a Florida coke dealer who’s in the midst of a heavy bender on his own product.

  46. 46.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Jay: lots of people take a “jerb”, more so when it’s a good paying “jerb” in a crappy economy, who then have a “come to Jesus moment” when push comes to shove…

    …Bill Barr

    Are you sure that he didn’t accept the AG nomination just because he’s an evil bastard who wanted to wield power in an evil administration?

  47. 47.

    Martin

    FSB letter #6 is out, and well… curious what Adam thinks of it. I know the earlier letters had been verified by Bellingcat but what’s described is pretty fucking out there.

  52. 52.

    Miss Bianca

    @E.: Oh, wow! Is this in the same bakery in the town where your local RWNJs refused to mask up? #mindblown.

    If so, could it be that the sight of people facing real tyranny and oppression has woken some of your fellow citizens up?

  53. 53.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @E.:

    This is the PERFECT place, and your story made me so happy!! Congratulations to all of you!

  57. 57.

    MisterForkbeard

    @germy: Oh, this is no way compromises him at all with the GOP electorate, and probably part of the indies too.

  61. 61.

    trollhattan

    @germy:

    “Sure we came from bacteria or some shit and voila, we still have bacteria? Why do bacteria not want to evolve?” [whisper whisper from epidemiologist, stage left]. “Oh, that kind of evolution, that’s man-made.”

  62. 62.

    Martin

    @mrmoshpotato: Yeah, he is.

    Look, I get the job aspect of things, and I can’t speak for what its like in Russia, but at least for the US examples, government is not unlike democracy in that it operates by consent. Lower-level employees can absolutely influence or straight-up stop various actions. You can whistleblow. You can go to the media. I’ve taken things to the CA legislature. You don’t necessarily get the outcome you want, but you sure as shit can leave a record behind that it was objected to, why, evidence, and all that.

    Now, low-level employees – no, I don’t expect them to take the risk. But higher level employees? Anyone who has a contract, negotiates their salary, has a title, is a public figure – yeah, they sure as shit better be doing that. Officers have an obligation to not follow an illegal order. That’s what the big bucks are for – so you have a cushion should you lose the job. And if they don’t do it when it matters, I’m not going to give them props for trying to salvage their reputation after it all goes to shit. Doing right means doing it when nobody will give you credit. Your only reward is that you did right and you can look at yourself in the mirror the next day.

  63. 63.

    trollhattan

    They may be busy fighting now-a-war, but not too busy to push for 13 years in prison for the guy they poisoned already.

    Russian prosecutors have called for jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to serve 13 years in prison for the new fraud charges he is facing.
    The opposition politician is currently on trial at the prison colony outside Moscow where he is already serving a two-and-a-half year sentence.
    Navalny was jailed last year after surviving a nerve agent attack that he blames on the Russian government.
    In this latest trial, prosecutors have requested that the Putin critic be sent to a “strict regime” prison which would mean harsher conditions than he is in currently.
    “You can’t put everyone in prison. Even if you ask for 113 years, you won’t scare me or others like me,” Navalny said in court according to his team.
    -BBC

  64. 64.

    E.

    @Miss Bianca: Same town. To be honest, the anti-vax racist loudmouth crowd has quit coming in altogether, and disparage my business whenever they can. The local newspaper, now on-line only, wouldn’t publish a peep about the fundraiser. There are good people here. Just as there are good people in Alabama, Russia, and everywhere else. They are having a tough time competing though.

  66. 66.

    Jay

    @mrmoshpotato:

    It was a compare and contrast, Mag’s hasn’t held up a protest sign ever. Barr, Woodward and a bunch of the media scum took notes, kept their mouths shut, saving it all for their tell all, ( some) books, rather than informing the public.

  67. 67.

    Spanky

    @trollhattan: Some enterprising journalist should ask Walker his opinion on the Oxygen Catastrophe.

    (A quatloo for every journalist you can find that’s even heard of the Oxygen Catastrophe.)

  68. 68.

    Martin

    @debbie: Here.

    Looks like they misread the Iran strike in Iraq as an attack on the US facility. So that likely dates when the letter was written pretty narrowly since that interpretation was only out for less than 24 hours.

    The described strategy here is kinda batshit. Heaven help Russia if this is their actual plan.

  69. 69.

    Martin

    People may not be aware that wholesale gas prices have dropped by about $1 over the last week. Guessing nobody is seeing that at the pump. Guess it’s Biden’s fault because he can’t get around the country fast enough at his age to personally change all the price boards.

  73. 73.

    Argiope

    @Martin: Wow, batshit is right.  Has Putin met us? Ever? He’s spending  WAYYYY too much time alone if these letters  turn out to be real.  And probably even if they aren’t.

  75. 75.

    Geminid

    @mrmoshpotato: I think Bill Barr took the AG job to look after the  interests of conservative fat cats like the ones who back the Federalist Society and the  Heritage Foundation. To get them the judges, regulations and appointees etc. they wanted. They could not trust Trump to appoint a competent man because they knew Trump was not competent.

    Barr delivered for his masters. They got what they wanted out of Trump, and now Trump is just useless trash to them.

  77. 77.

    Shalimar

    @Martin: What is Russia going to attack the West with?  Ukraine seems to be beating their army wherever they actually come into contact.  I’m not seeing any extra divisions ready to invade Poland.

  78. 78.

    scav

    @germy: If the Georgia GOP is grooming Senate candidate Herschel Walker, undoubtedly they’re eating all the fleas they pick off him.

  81. 81.

    Calouste

    @germy:  I descended from my grandparents, I wonder how I can possibly have cousins. Which is the same argument, but with a slightly compressed timeline.

  82. 82.

    JPL

    @germy: Hershel just wanted the evangelical vote.  He has indicated that he won’t debate other primary candidates.  I doubt that he’ll debate Warnock, if he wins the primary.

  84. 84.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Martin: The whole strategy there is totally nuts. Basically “We’re going to scream about how the West is causing a war by doing things we’ve been doing for some time, and then threaten a fight. And then NATO will fall apart when we threaten to attack Poland!”

    If this is legit, it’s alarming purely because it betrays an enormous amount of idiocy and bravura.

  85. 85.

    CaseyL

    @Martin: Holy cow, that is a crazy scenario.  I mean… has this strategist listened to what NATO and the US are saying at all?

    Note: That scenario might have worked out if Trump was still in the Oval Office.  Maybe Russia is counting on him to regain power?

    @E.:  You did good!

  86. 86.

    germy

    Pamela Moses, the Memphis woman who was sentenced to six years in prison for trying to register to vote, says she is grateful to be released – but believes the case against her was a “scare tactic” to discourage other people from casting a ballot.

    Moses was released from prison on bond on 25 February after a judge unexpectedly granted her request for a new trial, citing evidence, obtained by the Guardian, that had not been disclosed to Moses’ defense.

    In her first interview since being freed Moses recalled the moment in the courtroom when Judge W Mark Ward decided to grant her a new trial – and said she was “overwhelmed with joy”. Video shows Moses nearly in tears and screaming in excitement when Ward ruled he was granting her a new trial.

  87. 87.

    Spanky

    @Martin: Riiiight. The only mention of China is a brief assumption that they remain neutral. No mention that Putin is already asking them for aid.

  88. 88.

    Jay

    @Shalimar:

    given their performance so far,

    Russia will sortie their Nuclear subs from the Northern Fleet. These are basically these days, sacrificial lambs.

    They will sortie their Pacific Fleet subs into the Sea of Otosk, which they believe is a safe basin, protected by sensors and ASW patrols from NATO and other’s attacks.

    Then from deniably occupied areas of Ukraine they will launch long range missile strikes into Poland, probably targeting either Aid Convoys headed into Ukraine or Refugee Columns leaving Ukraine,

    And then will blame Ukraine for the attacks with the hopes of putting NATO on the “backfoot”.

  90. 90.

    MisterForkbeard

    @CaseyL: If Trump was still in office, I could totally still see NATO breaking up. Trump was literally trying to do that.

  93. 93.

    jackmac

    @Martin: Reading this latest FSB memo, it strikes me that Putin and his top people see themselves as giants and geniuses who can dictate Western responses and outcomes. They are not. There’s been an awful lot of unanimity and spine-stiffening among NATO allies, including collective and collaborative decision-making. Putin, by contrast, has a now-proven Potemkin military that’s being held to a stalemate by Ukraine, an economy on the verge of collapse and a world standing that arguably rivals North Korea. Yeah, he has nukes and could certainly use them. But isn’t there a rival school of thought in Russia that Putin is rapidly driving the country into ruin and  there needs to be a way to move him out before a World War III really breaks out?

  95. 95.

    Martin

    @CaseyL: I mean, the argument is that so long as Putin has nukes, he can perpetually get the west to back down no matter what. I mean, I’m sure that’s what Putin wants to think, and it matches internal propaganda, but the west doesn’t work like that.

  96. 96.

    Martin

    @Shalimar: They’ve kept about half of their military in reserve. Probably need that to keep civil control. Russia presumably has their longer range strategic (conventional) weapons still available. We haven’t seen their best fighter planes, their bombers, etc. Then don’t seem to be so committed to this effort to risk the shiny stuff.

  97. 97.

    Geminid

    @JPL: Did you hear much about Stacey Abram’ Atlanta rally last night? Politico had a good article about it.

    There also was a very good interview of Abrams last month in Atlanta.CapitalBnews.org. It’s titled “Stacey Abrams and her vision for ‘One Georgia’.” The interview reminded me how shrewd a politician and impressive a comunicator she is.

  98. 98.

    sab

    @Martin: NPR talked about it this afternoon, possibly on Marketplace.. They thought it was because China is probably about to go i to a Covid lockdown so won’t be using the usual amount of energy, so they are buying less oil.

  99. 99.

    Jay

    @jackmac:

    “But isn’t there a rival school of thought in Russia that Putin is rapidly driving the country into ruin and  there needs to be a way to move him out before a World War III really breaks out?”

    there probably is, but not (yet) amongst anybody who can make it happen.

  101. 101.

    JPL

    @Geminid: Today I spent getting ready for company, so didn’t even watch the local news.   She did get some grief from the republicans about her  saying she did the work.    Medicaid expansion should be a winning issue though.

    From the AJC
    “I did the work and now I want the job,” Abrams said to cheering supporters in west Atlanta last night, as cheers of “Stacey” broke out.

    Kemp spokesman Tate Mitchell shot back that while the governor led Georgia through the pandemic, Abrams “spent her time chasing the covers of style magazines and running a shadow campaign for president.” He added: “Georgians know who’s who.”

  102. 102.

    Geminid

    @germy: I just wish the evangelicals would go back to fighting among themselves, like they used to. I got a a glimmer of hope the other day, though. Some Baptist preacher on the local radio station started pitching his new book titled “Calvinism: None Dare Call It Heresy.”

  103. 103.

    Calouste

    @Jay: You never know, they might just be waiting for an opportunity. Some of Hitler’s generals were planning for two years to get rid of him, during which a number of failed attempts were made on his life. Most of them failed so badly, they weren’t even detected, but the bomb that went off in Hitler’s conference room and killed four people was hard to ignore.

  104. 104.

    Calouste

    @Martin: Maybe the shiny stuff doesn’t work very well. The first of their new fighters crashed before it was even delivered.
    The F-35 was a bit of a boondoggle, and that was developed by a country that’s not completely corrupt from top to bottom.

  106. 106.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Martin: ​
      Picking a nit here, all soldiers have an obligation not to obey illegal orders. Not just officers.

  108. 108.

    Kalakal

    @Martin: If that lunacy is the ‘new plan’, taking into accounts events of the last few week these guys are very poor learners. It’s delusional.

  110. 110.

    Jay

    @Calouste:

    It’s a different structure, ( so far).

    Those who can get within the end of a conference table with Pootie Poot have to pass searches, Covid tests, and are so far, still selling, buying and drinking the Koolaide.

    The Field Generals etc who have had their eyes opened arn’t even allowed to travel to Moscow.

    The guy’s who tried to serve Hitler and others Flavoraid, was a combo of Strategists with 4 years experience of the maps not working out, Field Commanders promoted for surviving while their Armies were decimated, and a bunch of NCO’s and lower level Officers filling Staff positions while recovering from their wounds on the Eastern Front, all in the General Staff or adjacent.

  111. 111.

    Geminid

    @JPL: The Politico article had some striking quotes from Abrams’ speech. At one point she used her father as an example of the the need for better health care for all Georgians. Mr. Abrams has fought prostate cancer for 15 years, and a recent surgery resulted in life-threatening sepsis. Abrams had moved her parents into her Atlanta home due to the pandemic, and her father had access to prompt and good care that saved his life.

    Abrams pointed out that not all Georgians would have fared as well:

      “It makes no sense that in the state of Georgia, if he had lived a few miles away or a few counties away, my father would not be with us here today.

    This is a solvable problem. And by God, as Governor of Georgia I am going to fix it!”

  112. 112.

    MisterDancer

    @germy: Creationism and (Un)Intelligent Design was my OG entry into (waves hands) all this political stuff. So yeah, Walker’s bollicks is nothing but a shoutout to the many, many people who’s ability to carve out a rational argument was killed from cradle on from getting fed crap like this, or Lost Cause shit, or related topics. This is a long-standing big-assed Problem.

    It’s easy to forget that the Scopes Trial was about the same kinds of toxic lawmaking that we see today for so-called Critical Race Theory. For a long time, the needs of Conservatism aligned with Scientific progress (see:early Cold War), and that strain was put in a cupboard. I think a lot of us tend to see that time as “normal”, and not as, instead, an aberration in Conservatism’s long-standing  desire to control science on top of culture.

    (See Also: Louis Agassiz, one of the most important scientists in history, and a guy so fuckin’ racist even his Harvard bio page is basically like “he’s the H. P. Lovecraft of science, and we’re low-key really sorry ’bout that.”)

    Anyway: once the scientific community got their own ethics (kinda) straight, and started to push back en masse as the Cold War went on…well, that all aligns with a host of cultural and political shifts that a real historian can lay out better than I, sleepy as I am.

    What I can say, is that we should know that what Walker is saying here is part of a long history, not something that is at all out of sorts or weird to a depressingly large number of people in Georgia…and all over the country.

  114. 114.

    Aziz, light!

    @trollhattan: Kalil Galeev had some interesting things to say about Navalny, labelling him a racist “ethnonationalist.” Said although he shouldn’t be a political prisoner, Navalny is not a good guy. Better than Putin perhaps, but who isn’t?

  117. 117.

    Geminid

    @Calouste: Germany announced plans to order 35 F-35s, to replace their aging Tornados. Germany is backing the Eurofighter project, but they only ordered 15 of the Eurofighters.

    The F-35 costs more than originally projected, but it seems to be be a capable plane. Recently Finland selected it after a competition between Lockheed and it’s Swedish and French competitors.

  118. 118.

    Gin & Tonic

    A good thread from Slava Malamud about linguistic and cultural differences between Russian and Ukrainian, and how they play into the current war.

    I have been asked about the Ukrainian language and culture and their difference from Russian, and I could go on a long linguistic/cultural discourse, but I think it’s not all that pertinent right now.
    It’s better to tell you about why Ukrainian cultural identity matters now
    ?
    — Slava Malamud ?? (@SlavaMalamud) March 15, 2022

  119. 119.

    Calouste

    @Geminid: there were a number of issues with the F-35 during development, which resulted in delays and cost overruns. ( But which are apparently now resolved) The point I was trying to make is that most likely, considering the complexity of developing a 21st century fighter plane, Russia ran into similar issues, but due to nature of a corrupt government, some of these issues might have been swept under the carpet rather than resolved.

  120. 120.

    Aziz, light!

    Eventually we may learn if the FSB guy is legit or is, say, a former FSB guy who knows the lingo and is feeding us a plausible work of fiction. Possibly we will never establish the veracity of these letters.

  123. 123.

    Kalakal

    @Geminid:

    Germany announced plans to order 35 F-35s, to replace their aging Tornados. Germany is backing the Eurofighter project, but they only ordered 15 of the Eurofighters.

    The reasons rather scary. They are buying the F35s because they want aircraft that can carry US made nukes.

    They have about 180 Eurofighters, the extra 15 are electronic warfare variants

  124. 124.

    Calouste

    @Jay: Hitler’s general staff also looked like they were buying, drinking, and selling the koolaid, until it turned out some of them weren’t. Can’t tell from the outside really if anything is going on or not. Although it seems that the US, from the information they have made public, has a really good mole pretty close to Putin.

  126. 126.

    Soprano2

    @Martin: Nope. We joke that the price goes up by $0.10 at a time but drops a penny at a time. It has dropped from $3.79 on Sunday to $3.67 today. I’ll be interested to see what it is tomorrow since the barrel price is dropping.

  128. 128.

    Calouste

    @Kalakal: You’d think that after the umpteenth plan that is not going to plan they would start to learn. Or at least start to panic.

  130. 130.

    Scout211

    I don’t know if this has been posted yet, but the Senate just passed permanent daylight savings time.

    CNN)The Senate on Tuesday passed a measure that would make Daylight Saving Timepermanent across the United States.
    The Sunshine Protection Act passed the chamber by unanimous consent. The bill would still need to pass the House and be signed by President Joe Biden to become law. If the measure clears Congress and is signed into law, it would mean no more falling back every year in the fall.

  132. 132.

    Geminid

    @Calouste: Yes, high grade warplanes in quantity would be real challenge for Russia. We solved the F-35’s problems with money, so now they cost $100 million each, way more than originally projected.

  133. 133.

    Bill Arnold

    @Martin:

    The described strategy here is kinda batshit. Heaven help Russia if this is their actual plan.

    If that is in any way real, some Russians in the center of power are utterly delusional and disconnected from reality. (I can’t gauge the (probability of the) reality of it for sure through the noise from the translator.)
    Such a “plan” would not survive even its initial contact with reality.

  134. 134.

    Calouste

    Zelenskyy just claimed that another Russian general was killed today. That’s the fourth by my count, and I read an estimate that there would be about 20 involved with the invasion, so that’s a pretty serious casualty rate.

  135. 135.

    Geminid

    @Kalakal: I saw that. I did not know that German planes carried American nukes. I guess that’s better than Germany making it’s own.

  137. 137.

    Kalakal

    @Geminid: I’m not sure they do, they have an undisclosed number of gravity bombs under NATO. They signed some agreement years not to make their own. The F35s are a major step up the ladder, being able to carry missiles rather than old style bombs

  140. 140.

    dexwood

    @Gin & Tonic: Have been meaning to ask you if you’re familiar with the Ukrainian musicians/performance artists DakhaBrakha. We’ve seen five of their shows in Albuquerque and Santa Fe over the years, pre-covid. Fell in love with them, bought tickets to treat a small group of friends once. Never understood any of their lyrics. Didn’t matter because the music was so beautiful. We think of them a lot these days.

  141. 141.

    Jay

    @Calouste:

    it took 5 years of war, 3 years of at best, stalemate, a year of disastrous losses, and major changes to the general staff and staffers, often due to combat losses, for some of the Koolaide drinkers around Hitler, decide to try to serve him Flavoraide.

    When you run a kleptocracy, where everything is for sale, it’s not difficult for Foreign Countries to buy assets lock, stock and barrel, (eg. NRA, TFG, Fucker Failson, the RNC),….

  142. 142.

    debbie

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Shafran’s dismissive distinction between Russian and Ukrainian words (like lystar vs. rystar) reminds me of that argument in one of Jonathan Swift’s novels about which end of the egg is the right end to be cracked open.

  144. 144.

    trollhattan

    @Kalakal: The reasons rather scary. They are buying the F35s because they want aircraft that can carry US made nukes.

    Wass?!? Where did you read this?

  145. 145.

    Martin

    @Geminid: I think if the plane is assigned to NATO then it would. Essentially, the US has nukes stationed in Germany, under US control, but we could deploy them on any suitable NATO aircraft. But for a non-NATO F-35, then no.

    Basically, Germany gets the benefits (such as they are) of having nukes there without the cost of developing and supporting them. The US gets tactical weapons closer to Russia and can eliminate one potential complication by having another nuclear power in the world.

  146. 146.

    Jay

    @Geminid:

    German aircraft don’t carry US nukes. F-104’s are as close as Germany came to nuclear capable mounts, but they were disabled along with the bombsights. Germany used the F-104’s as interceptors, where Canada, as they aged, turned them into low level strike bombers.

    The attraction of the F-35 for Germany is not because they can in theory, carry US nukes, it’s that their limited stealth features makes them usable for SEAD roles, replacing the ancient F4’s in Wild Weasel roles and the vintage Tornado’s in runway denial.

  147. 147.

    NotMax

    @trollhattan

    Standard operating procedure, procurement-wise, NOT standard operating equipment, airborne-wise. Planes they will be replacing have the same capability to carry them.

  148. 148.

    Martin

    @Jay: A number of NATO member countries contribute a dual-capable aircraft (DCA) capability to the Alliance. These aircraft are central to NATO’s nuclear deterrence mission and are available for nuclear roles at various levels of readiness. In their nuclear role, the aircraft are equipped to carry nuclear bombs in a conflict and personnel are trained accordingly.

    I believe that extends beyond just US planes carrying US nukes and French planes carrying French nukes.

  154. 154.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Calouste: I don’t know this source, but…

    NEXTA @nexta_tv · 3h

    A #Russian major general was slain. The General, Oleg Mityaev, was the Commander of the 150th motorized rifle division, #Ukrainian media reports.

  155. 155.

    Martin

    @Jay: Right, but I don’t think there’s any legal issue with a NATO assigned German plane carrying a NATO assigned US nuke. Essentially, it’s a NATO plane and a NATO nuke. The nationality restrictions come off once it’s assigned to NATO. One way that the US can control that is to not sell Germany nuke capable planes which could be assigned to NATO, as we did with Turkey (who was part of the original group of countries that initiated the F35 project) when they bought AA from Russia.

    So my understanding is that Poland and Italy and Netherlands can all deploy US nukes on their nations planes under a NATO mission and all have planes capable of doing that (I think they all have F-35, or have them on order). I don’t know if its the case for all of those US nukes, but I thought I had read that at least some of them, they can only be deployed in a NATO mission. They aren’t owned by NATO, but the agreement for them to be in country is that they’re only to be used as part of NATO operations.

  160. 160.

    Splitting Image

    @Martin:

    The described strategy here is kinda batshit. Heaven help Russia if this is their actual plan.

    Putin’s Russia is an empire now, and when it acts, it creates its own reality. While other people are studying that reality – judiciously, as they will – Russia will act again, creating other new realities, which people can study too, and that’s how things will sort out.

  161. 161.

    Kalakal

    @Martin: Back in ’80s I lived in Groningen, Netherlands, my landlord was an active reserve artillery officer in the Netherlands army. He got promoted to Major and told me that now if it all went South he would be one of the people firing NATO nuclear artillery shells, he didn’t know about hitting any Russians but he’d get satisfaction out of lobbing nukes around on German soil. As a child in WW2 he’d had to watch as the Nazis publiclly executed his father

  164. 164.

    Jay

    @Martin:

    NATO countries not part of the NATO nuclear sharing programs, when they get US Equipment, part of the contract is that the arming/aiming functions are removed before delivery.

    CF-118’s can carry all the air launched tactical nuclear weapons on their hardpoints, they can’t however arm, aim or fire them.

    There is no issue with Nuclear Sharing NATO nations using US supplied and controlled Nuclear Weapons,

    other than they are US controlled, and some Nations like Britain and France, don’t believe that what constitutes a trip wire for the use of Nukes, is not shared by the US.

    Germany want’s  the F-35 for SEAD missions, not nukes. In the frontal aspect, they are almost invisible to ground based air defences, at medium altitudes, where the ancient F-4’s and old Tornado’s have to fly a tree top levels for SEAD missions. They carry their AARM’s internally, so AA radars see an incoming the size of a sparrow, right up to deployment and launch, when the incoming briefly grows to the size of a crow. The F-35’s weakness is that from the rear, it’s medium sized, and hot on IR.

    Germany has lots of Eurofighters better suited to the Nuclear Mission.

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